Noemi Mena Montes

Noemi is a Spanish journalist with a PhD in Political Communication, working now as lecturer at Erasmus University (Rotterdam).

She is an expert on migration with experience as researcher and policy advisor for a EU foundation during the refugee crisis.

She lived in the Middle East where was working on a research project. From the beginning of the refugee crisis she had published some stories from Jordan (2013) in Lebanon (2014) in different media in Spain and other countries.

In 2011, she got a Spanish National Award for best research on Migration Studies (Premio Santo Padre Rubio) and a prize by Latina Communication Journal for an article about framing migration and public opinion.

Her main research interest includes media coverage of migration-refugees, the conflicts in the Middle East, intercultural communication, identity and religion.

Noemi Mena is the co-founder of Re-starter (www.re-starter.org), a Foundation that promotes the integration of refugees in the Netherlands and other European countries. With Re-starter and other organizations she had being teaching seminars on intercultural communication skills for locals and refugees. She likes to work on projects that build up connections between people from different cultural backgrounds and promote storytelling. Now she is working together with Amanda Alencar in building up: "Speak of Migration" a platform for networking where different actors and voices around the topic of migration can participate and exchange knowledge and connections.

Amanda Paz Alencar

Amanda is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media & Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Before joining the Department in September 2015, she was a Marie Curie Post-doctoral EU Fellow at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her Marie Curie EU-funded research project entitled ‘TV News for Promoting Interculturalism: A Novel Step towards Immigrant Integration' addressed the variables involved in the mediation of migrant integration and experiences by media in a cross-country comparative perspective. This research worked towards a comprehensive and an integrated approach to the understanding of the role of media technologies in the integration processes of new economic and refugee migrants in the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, both at economic and sociocultural levels. Amanda has extensive experience and knowledge of refugee and migrant populations accumulated through several research projects. She has been involved in various international (research) projects, such as the intersections between film literacy and migrant audiences, the effects of narrative messages on Muslim integration in the Netherlands, and the use of entertaining collaborative digital games to foster multicultural integration at Dutch schools (Utrecht University). Finally, Amanda’s trajectory as a researcher has been guided by great independence and innovation. She has managed to establish relevant research collaborations with migrant organizations, local municipalities and stakeholders working with immigrant integration processes across different European countries. Amanda has a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and Journalism from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and an MA in Communication also at USC. She’s also board member of the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Galician Association of Communication (AGACOM), and a former member of the Editorial Board of the International Yearbook of Lusophone Communication of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

KATE SCHOENBACH

Kate Schoenbach is an independent photojournalist and BBC contributor specializing in global humanitarian issues. Through photography and video, she creates compelling narratives which shine a light on social injustices. Most recently, Kate’s work documenting the legacy of the Ovaherero and Nama genocide in Namibia appeared on BBC's website, where it received over 2 million views – making it one of the most-watched BBC Africa videos in 2017.

Kate comes to photography from a unique angle. Prior to studying photography at New York's School of Visual Arts, she studied International Political Economy at New York’s Fordham University and obtained an MSc in Economics from the University of London. Her studies in economics and international relations have given her a deeper understanding of social issues, which has allowed her to connect more holistically with the environments in which she photographs and writes about.

What Kate loves about photography is its ability to connect people from all walks of life, as it is the universal language for everyone with the power of sight. Through photography, Kate wishes to encourage a dialogue about the beauty, diversity, and synchronicity of our shared humanity.

Currently, Kate is in Greece documenting the refugee crisis, with a focus on expanding the women’s narrative.